When KSA was founded at a North Kingstown dining room table in 2011, we only had a few clients. One of those clients was a new obstacle course race called BoldrDash.
Around that time, obstacle courses and similar event series were skyrocketing in popularity. BoldrDash was a small fish in an ever-growing pond and found themselves flopping around looking for consistency and brand recognition.
Back then, if you asked someone what BoldrDash was, they most likely wouldn’t be able to tell you. Or, at the very least, would say “Oh, the Tough Mudder?”. Part of that can be attributed to older versions of the BoldrDash logo. If you saw them, you would understand. The iconic “shim” figure hurdling the current logo font appeared as different colors depending on who printed the logo. The font itself didn’t have consistent casing. Nobody knew if they were running a BoldrDash race, a Bold-R-Dash race, or a BolderDash race.
It was time for a change. Enter KSA!
Our goal? Make sure nobody would confuse BoldrDash with another obstacle course race series again. We wanted to give BoldrDash an identity it could easily own and portray for years to come.
The client’s goal? Provide people of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds with a healthy, fun escape from the stresses of real life.
We started at the top with BoldrDash’s President, and my personal fashion icon, Lynn Hall.
If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lynn, you know she can be a bit silly. She is always smiling and ready to put you in tears with jokes and comments. So much of what BoldrDash was doing came off the top of her head, that we labeled BoldrDash as a Jester Brand.
A Jester seeks to lighten up the world, motivated by jokes and turning situations upside down. Jesters have also been known to give life to people’s wildest imaginations.
Lynn, and by extension BoldrDash, do just that by challenging participants to “find their BOLD” at a comfortable difficulty. This pushes people towards results they may not have thought possible, all the while building self-confidence and keeping participants on their toes.
A Jester embodies a “living on the edge” mentality and serves to remind us we can choose our own destinies. This is a big part of BoldrDash: bettering yourself by making the choice to live actively and boldly.
Next, we got the word out. We had radio ads, tv ads, articles in several newspapers, event listings online. You name it, and we advertised there.
Since those early days, BoldrDash has grown and expanded over and over again. A Kids Fun Run was added, Color Me Bold was born, and we set new attendance records for three straight years. It is safe to say directing the tone and setting the targets of BoldrDash’s marketing as a Jester was a success, even though today. Stay tuned for the newest event to join the BoldrDash family: DoggieDash!
DoggieDash will take place October 21st at Canonicus Camp and Conference Center in Exeter, Rhode Island.